History Main / WhoWouldBeStupidEnough

-->'''O'Brien:''' There's no way he'll attack head-on.[[note]] The dub changes this line to "There's no way he's dumb enough to attack me."[[/note]]\\

* A variant occurs during a StoryArc in the comic strip ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'', where Bill the Cat becomes a televangelist and claims if people send him $50 million, the Lord will [[NeverSayDie "call home"]] Jimmy Swaggert, Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, and Jim Bakker. In the last frame, Milo says "Wipe out the gang of four, eh? Who knows who would fall for such a seductive pitch!" just as Opus is rifling through a wad of dollar bills. (This was a parody of Oral Roberts' fund raising appeal claiming that God would "call him home" if he didn't get a certain amount of money in donations.)

-->'''Mittens:''' Though I gotta say, as good as that peanut episode was, it does stretch credibility juuuust a tiny bit. Who in their right mind would even consider putting themselves that much in harm's way to create a diversion like Howard did? It would take a special kind of idiot to go to those lengths, don’tcha think?

'''Brisbane:''' ... Step on the map.\\

* Played straight by The Chechen in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'': "Who's stupid enough to steal from us?" Turns out, the Joker. Although "stupid" [[TheChessmaster doesn't really factor into it.]] Try "supremely confident".

'''The Joker:''' ''[deadpan]'' [[BluntYes Yeah]].

* ''Film/ScoobyDoo'': In the airport scene, Shaggy walks up to Fred and the girls without Scooby, prompting Velma to ask where is the dog. Shaggy explains big dogs aren't allowed on the plane. Cut to Scooby, wearing woman's clothes.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Harry gets a beautiful one ''by proxy'' when Ebenezer [=McCoy=] [[OhCrap figures out]] Harry's [[BatmanGambit plan]] in ''Literature/TurnCoat''. In summary the plan is [[spoiler: calling out the worlds strongest Wizards to fight, then call in the Vampires saying he has what they want, and then getting them to work together against a common enemy, who Harry also invited to this location]].

* ''Literature/TheFootprintOfMussolini'': In this alternate history story, Mussolini becomes magnanimous toward Jews. During the Second World War, [[EvenEvilHasStandards Horthy disobeys Hitler's orders to deport Jews to death camps]], instead choosing to send them to Italian soil, thinking he couldn't possibly get upset over that. [[spoiler: Hitler not only proceeds to invade Hungary and topple Horthy, he starts ANOTHER war with Italy, all to kill the Hungarian Jewish refugees]].
* In ''Literature/HarrowTheNinth'', the Emperor God tells Harrow that he sealed his worst enemy behind a blood ward that could only be opened by him (or a biological relative of his, as a "blood ward" is more accurately a "gene ward", but he has no such relatives). A few chapters later, we get a flashback to Harrow sealing some important letters, and dismissing the idea of a using blood ward instead of writing them in code, because it would be stupid to assume she won't bleed for the foreseeable future. [[spoiler: Turns out Harrow was right. Some of the Emperor's elite super-necromancers turned on him, [[StalkerWithATestTube stole his sperm during a threesome]], and handed it over to his enemies to make a baby who could be used as a key.]]

** In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'', Arthur Weasley (recovering in hospital after a snakebite from a magical snake) mentions that he's become interested in a branch of muggle medicine called "Stitches" as a possible cure. Mrs Weasley scoffs at the idea, saying it sounds like he wants to sew his skin back together and not even he's stupid enough to try that... Harry hears her screech "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT'S THE GENERAL IDEA?!" from the corridor outside the ward. Which is stupid in another way in that stitches are not usually used for puncture wounds. [[FridgeBrilliance That's what happens when you don't give wizards any non-magical education after they turn eleven, and think of any Muggle methods as worthless]] (case in point -- Ron's description of doctors as "Muggle nutters who cut people up").

-->'''Brittas''': No one is going anywhere. There's a force eight blizzard blowing out there, a windchill factor of minus thirty and some of those drifts are over twenty feet deep. Only a lunatic would go out in conditions like that!
-->'''Helen''': (outside, on top of the thick snow) Hello, Gordon? Can you let me in?

'''Elora:''' Why wouldn’t they attack at night?\\
'''Iolaus:''' It’s dark. They don’t know what they’re up against. No one would be stupid enough to attack at night.\\

'''Hercules:''' Of course, barbarians aren’t really known for their brains.

* Mexican Sitcom ''Series/LaFamiliaPLuche'' has the main character, Ludovico, insulting a maganer for [[TheNapoleon his size]] and getting called depraved when his attempts at apoligizing went south. He then needs to retrieve a photocopy of a butt (not even his) that was sent by mistake. When the boss asks to see the photocopy and see what's the big deal, Ludovico asks what would happen if, hypothetically, it was a picture of buttcheeks.

* One episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' starts with Benson and Tucker drinking in a bar when a cheesy reality show [[note]]a ''Series/TheBachelor'' knockoff called ''Heart's Desire''[[/note]] comes on the TV behind the bar. Benson snarkily wonders who would watch this garbage, and Tucker suggests throwing away the TV altogether. Cut to two of the detectives under Benson's command watching at home, and one of them tearfully declaring herself to be "Team Melanie".

* In one path of ''[[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries Completing the Mission]]'', Henry overhears Icepick discuss the plan of launching the Toppat Orbital Station into space. When asked if anyone can hear him, he replies that nobody in their right mind would try to hijack the station. Henry, [[KleptomaniacHero being Henry]], proceeds to do [[RefugeInAudacity exactly that]]

* Videogame/DeadlyRoomsOfDeath combines this with ButThouMust in the second[[note]] technically third because of a prequel[[/note]] game, where the only way to progress is to get caught in an obvious trap, while the people who set the trap debate whether you'll fall for it.

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': Violeta wonders aloud who on earth would be crazy enough to hijack one of Albia's ships singlehandedly, Wooster starts to reminisce about a time when Gil did something similar... then [[ExplainExplainOhCrap freezes in horror]] when he realizes the implication that Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, whose empire is on what could best be described as an uneasy detente with England, [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20180207 probably is involved.]]

'''Scrappy:''' [[OhCrap Uh-oh]]...

-->'''Frylock:''' ''[reading e-mail]'' "Go down to the park and step into the rainbow and you'll be [[GetRichQuickScheme rich with gold]]. [[ChainLetter Forward this to 20 people]] or '''[[DisproportionateRetribution we will burn your brain from the inside.]] Go down to the damn park'''." Man, Who would be stupid enough to check this out?\\

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' hung a {{lampshade|Hanging}} on this trope in the episode "Too Sexy for His Fat," in which Lois responds to Chris's decision not to undergo liposuction: "That was a very grown-up decision. I mean, what kind of lazy, narcissistic, irresponsible ''moron'' would even consider doing something as unbelievably foolish as getting liposuction? Who, I ask you? ''Who?''" This line is immediately followed by the appearance of a newly svelte Peter.

'''Prof. Farnsworth:''' Good news everyone, [[IronicEchoCut Hermes and I have started a Bender protest group.]]\\

* ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'': In "The Return", after Coop defeats all of Magnanimous's initial line-up, he (unsurprisingly) announces on galactic television for all other fighters in the universe to BringIt. After Jamie and Kiva point out on what he just did, Coop proclaims that no one would be dumb enough to challenge the champion... just as hundred of competitors arrive to claim the belt.

* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'' episode "Best Laid Plantains". King Julien is tempted to try some of the plantains belonging to the [[KillerGorilla two thuggish gorillas, Bada and Bing]]. When asking others should he do it, everyone (except Mort) says no. Skipper says [[NobodysThatDumb "Even you can't be that stupid."]] Later, Julien (and Marlene) wind up eating ''all'' of the plantains and running away. When Bada and Bing find out, they go on a rampage, but are stopped by the penguins. When they explain why they were rampaging, the penguins huddled up:

* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbStarWars'', the title characters and a merchant are discussing the Death Star Plans and have just discovered the station's fatal flaw. The merchant asks "What kind of idiot would design that?" Cut to Darthenshmirtz.

'''Clark Kent''': Had to be. Luthor's way too careful to foul up like that.\\
'''Lois Lane''': Who'd want to destroy Luthor? ''(Clark stares at her incredulously)'' ...Well, yeah. But who'd be crazy enough to try?

--> '''The Captain:''' ''Your dad's lifetime rival King Trevor of Equis likes to play pranks on him.''
--> '''Rapunzel:''' ''By just drawing a silly face on dad's statue? I can't imagine any intelligent person finding this funny.''
--> '''Eugene:''': Ha ha ha ha ha.

'''Wreck-Gar:''' [[VerbalTic I am Wreck-Gar]]! [[MythologyGag I DARE to be stupid]]! '''[[OhCrap I WILL DESTROY THE WHOLE CITY!]]'''

-->'''Phantom Limb:''' ''No-one'' "retires" from Phantom Limb's ''shit list!''

* In ''Manga/MobPsycho100'', a group of delinquents wanting revenge against another delinquent group lures Mob to them with a fake love letter that has extremely terrible handwriting and written with "I'm a girl" in it. Some of the members find the plan pretty terrible and believe no one would believe such an obvious lie, yet Mob still went to see if a girl will show up.

** In another issue, after Homer is unable to go on a family trip due to the airport not allowing someone with his gurth on the plane, he starts an organization for the rights of overweight airline passengers. When asked by Kent Brockmen how he intends to fulfill his goal, Homer figures the best was to ask a rich guy to bankroll an airline for obese people, prompting Brockmen to wonder what idiot would do that. Cue Homer and his organization going to Mr. Burns' office.

* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars30'': [[Anime/CodeGeassLelouchOfTheResurrection Swaile Qujappat]] uses his Geass to make Sayoko and Kallen look like copies of him to confuse them. When he does this to [[Anime/GunXSword Van]] though, Van's reaction is to try and cut down ''all'' the Qujappats in front of him. Qujappat is stunned at how Van's crazy stupidity derailed his plan in no time flat.

** In "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E57TheUncrashableHindentanic The Uncrashable Hindentanic]]", Scrooge needs some {{Mid Air Repair}}s done; "Who on board is smart enough to fix the propeller, but stupid enough to climb out there to do it?" Sure enough, Launchpad is the prime candidate.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* ''UsefulNotes/WorldWarII'': Despite it often claimed that UsefulNotes/JosephStalin was taken by surprise by Operation Barbarossa (Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union) because of a naïve belief that UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler could be trusted or because of hubris, in truth Stalin had several reasons to think an invasion was unlikely. Among the most pertinent was the fact that he was aware that the Axis powers were heavily engaged against the Allies in Africa... but most importantly he didn't think Hitler was stupid enough to start a war on two fronts.
[[/folder]]

** One of the [[AlternateUniverse alternate universes]] in the Perpetual Testing Initiative DLC is one where Aperture Science managed to acquire [[VideoGame/HalfLife Black Mesa]] forming "[[{{Portmanteau}} Blaperture Mesa]]. Blaperture!Cave shuts down [[VideoGame/HalfLife1 the anomalous materials experiment due to the possibility of it causing a resonance cascade]] and admonishes the scientists for their [[HypocriticalHumor lack of "common sense"]] in being willing to risk it. This is especially notable considering that Cave has spent his entire life doing things like [=GLaDOS=], who tried to murder the entire facility within '''''nanoseconds'''''.

-->'''Bumblebee:''' Who'd be crazy enough to volunteer for that mission? ''[beat]'' Why's everyone looking at me? Why's everyone [[TheBait always]] looking at me?

** When Coco brings up how Jaune forgoing a mask is the smartest decision he's made since it lets people see him as a person, [[AccidentallyAccurate Yang brings up its also likely that he doesn't see a point as his face is already known]] though Coco says that's stupid.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WebOriginal/TheFootprintOfMussolini'': In this alternate history story, Mussolini becomes magnanimous toward Jews. During the Second World War, [[EvenEvilHasStandards Horthy disobeys Hitler's orders to deport Jews to death camps]], instead choosing to send them to Italian soil, thinking he couldn't possibly get upset over that. [[spoiler: Hitler not only proceeds to invade Hungary and topple Horthy, he starts ANOTHER war with Italy, all to kill the Hungarian Jewish refugees]].

* An Advertising/MAndMs commercial for the 2012 UsefulNotes/SuperBowl featured a Brown M&M at a party with a few guys snickering at her. When she asks why, a girl explains that they think she's naked. She chastises the guys, explaining that her shell is simply brown and that only a fool would think that she would show up to a party naked. Cue Red barging in and saying, "Oh, so it's ''that'' kind of party!" He then pulls off his shell and starts dancing. Brown was not amused.

[[folder: Real Life]]

* In ''Literature/HarrowTheNinth'', the Emperor God tells Harrow that he sealed his worst enemy behind a blood ward that could only be opened by him or someone with his blood, and he had no intention to have children. A few chapters later, we get a flashback to Harrow sealing some important letters and dismissing the idea of a blood ward because it would be stupid to assume she wouldn't bleed anytime in the forseeable future.

* One episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' starts with Benson and Tucker drinking in a bar when a cheesy reality show [[note]]a ''Series/TheBachelor'' knockoff called ''Heart's Desire''[[/note]]. comes on the TV behind the bar. Benson snarkily wonders who would watch this garbage, and Tucker suggests throwing away the TV altogether. Cut to two of the detectives under Benson's command watching at home, and one of them tearfully declaring herself to be "Team Melanie".

* One episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' starts with Benson and Tucker drinking in a bar when a cheesy reality show [[note:a ''Series/TheBachelor'' knockoff called ''Heart's Desire'']]. comes on the TV behind the bar. Benson snarkily wonders who would watch this garbage, and Tucker suggests throwing away the TV altogether. Cut to two of the detectives under Benson's command watching at home, and one of them tearfully declaring herself to be "Team Melanie".

-->'''Al:''' What we need- is a dupe. Someone dishonest enough to claim this ticket, yet ''honest'' enough not to run off with all the money...

* In the ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' fic ''[[Fanfic/UnacceptableSitchSeries If You Build a Better Monkey]]'', Shego ([[HeelFaceTurn now on Kim's side]]) suggests catching the thieves who stole some rare zoo animals by posting an ad to buy just such animals in a villain forum. Kim is skeptical that the culprits would fall for such an obvious set-up. Shego just rattles off a few names from Kim's RoguesGallery, and Kim concedes the point that, yes, some villains ''are'' that dumb.
* ''Fanfic/WhiteSheepRWBY'': Ren, a human, ends up in Menagerie, the home of the [[LittleBitBeastly Faunus]], and claims to be a sloth Faunus. He has no obvious Faunus traits, but everyone just assumes they're hidden or hard to notice, because what human would be stupid enough to come to Menagerie? He even tells Sienna Khan, leader of a violent Faunus militia group, ''to her face'' that a human would have to be "pretty ballsy" to pretend to be a Faunus in Menagerie. She still doesn't notice, and last we see her she's still hoping for romance with "a certain sloth Faunus."
* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': After Mittens watches a television episode in which a character deliberately makes himself sick to create a diversion, she expresses doubts that anyone really would do something so dumb. Turns out Bolt does exactly that in order to get Penny and Joe to meet.
-->'''Mittens:''' Though I gotta say, as good as that peanut episode was, it does stretch credibility juuuust a tiny bit. Who in their right mind would even consider putting themselves that much in harm's way to create a diversion like Howard did? It would take a special kind of idiot to go to those lengths, don’tcha think?
* ''Fanfic/ARabbitAmongWolves'':
** After seeing the news report about Adam's death, Juniper Arc remarks about how she knows her son Jaune is smart enough to stay out of trouble. Cue her seeing his face on the screen and the police knocking on her door.
** When Coco brings up how Jaune forgoing a mask is the smartest decision he's made since it lets people see him as a person, [[AccidentallyAccurate Yang brings up its also likely that he doesn't see a point as his face is already known]] though Coco says that's stupid.
* In ''Fanfic/TheMushuVerse'' story ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9635971/6/She-Pooktacular She-Pooktacular]]'', Danny Phantom meets his AlternateUniverse DistaffCounterpart, Dani Fenton/Inviso-Belle. When everyone present questions her on the [[AtrociousAlias name]], Dani answers that it was either that or "Dani Phantom", and remarks that only someone stupid would make their superhero alias a pun of their own name. Cue her looking at Danny's logo and realizing that's what he did.
* ''Fanfic/HeroChat'': The heroes Queen Bee (Chloé Bourgeois) and Ryuko (Kagami Tsurugi) have their secret identities outed, and thus are publicly retired for their own safety. They are replaced by Honeybee and Arashi... who are still Chloé and Kagami. While there's a magical {{Glamour}} and the team's MasterOfIllusion helps with the "new" heroes meeting the "old" ones, multiple people point out that probably the only reason this actually works is because the city collectively thinks no one would be stupid enough to try such a simple trick.
* In ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', right after her liege lady reminds her that a fortress is not invincible, Chloe internally asks "who would dare brazenly strike at the Black Fortress?" Cue Kyril and the Black Dogs arriving moments later, even coming out victorious in the next chapter.
* In ''Fanfic/TheKarmaOfLies'', Adrien tries to explain that Lila stole tens of millions out of his family's secret emergency account, using all her past scams as proof she'd do such a thing. However, the police believe he stole his own money in order to evade the government and is trying to frame her, and his lawyer explains that this trope is the reason why. Among other issues with his testimony, the police just don't believe he's stupid enough to let someone that he thinks is a con artist (one who he claims has been actively grifting his classmates for months, no less) get into a position where they can learn his banking information.
-->'''[=LaChaise=]:''' Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you really did believe Lila to be a fraud but still wanted to help her and wired her ten thousand euros. Why would you let her see your passwords? Wouldn't it have made sense to make her stay in another room while you typed them in?

* In ''Fanfic/TheKarmaOfLies'', Adrien tries to explain that Lila stole all the money out of his bank account to his family lawyer, using all her past grifts and scams as proof she'd do such a thing. The laywer immediately points out his testimony would sound ridiculous in court; if someone knew that a person was scamming people they knew for everything they're worth and have been doing so for months, at the bare minimum they wouldn't be kind to said con artist, much less ever allow themseles into a position where they could become the next victim.

Supertrope to UnintentionallyUnwinnable.